












mimm 


















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Book. 



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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 




PRICE, 30 CENTS. 




THE - ULVSSES.* 



A CANOE TRIP; 




^ARK ON THE WATER, 



CRUISE OF THE ULYSSES FROM LAKE HURON 
TO LAKE ERIE. 



iv^ 



D By Frederick H. Seymour. 



ILLUSTRATIONS FROM SKETCHES BY THE AUTHOR, 



"A wet sheet and a flowing sea, 
A win;! that follows fast. 

And fills the white and inistlinff 8all, 
And bends the gallant mast." 



published by 
The Detroit Free Press Company^ 

1880. v^ 




Copyright, 
By F. H. SEYMOUE, 



4 



PREFACE. 



The chapters forming this little volume originally- 
appeared as sketches in the Detroit Free Press, Encour- 
aged by the growing interest in canoeing, and the 
conviction that as a manly, dignified and healthful recrea- 
tion it is bound to attain a ]3ermanent popularity, as well 
as by letters from many persons interested in the subject, 
the writer has been induced to revise the sketches and offer 

them in book form. 

F. IL S. 

Detroit, November 18S0. 



CHAPTER I. 



" 'Tis ever common 
That men are merriest when they are from home." 

—Shakspeare, 

THE CANOE EQUIPMENT — INCIDENTS 

OP YOTAGE DOWN THE ST. CLAIR 

RIVER ADVENTURE WITH INDIANS— 

A FISH STORY. 

ECIDEDLY the "canoefever" is insid- 
ious. Ever since reading McGregor's 
exploits in the canoe, " Rob Roy," a 
small boat capable of being carried in 
an emergency — arranged to be slept in 
and easily propelled — in which exten- 
sive journeys had been made through- 
out Europe and the East, I have been 
possessed with the idea of making a 
trip in a " cruising canoe." 

Canoeing has become quite the thing 
in England and is rapidly becoming 
popular in this country, so much so 
that the principal cities now boast their " canoe clubs." I 




8 BEAUTY OF THE PADDLE. 

bought a Racine veneer canoe, weight sixty pounds, with 

its equipments, viz., a double-bladed paddle, jointed; a 

mast, also jointed; a sail, combined life preserver, cushion 

and mattress, and without formality it was dubbed 

"Ulysses," after 

" That sagacious man 
Who, having overthrown the sacred town 
Of Ilium, wandered far, and visited 
The capitals of many nations, learned 
The customs of their dwellers, and endured 
Great suffering on the deep. " 

It contained apparatus for steering with the feet, and 
water and air-tight compartments in which to stow the 
outfit. Although it is claimed that oars are more effective, 
the beauty of the paddle as a means of locomotion is that 
the navigator faces the way he is going, and paddling is 
far less of an exertion than rowing. Twenty miles a day 
can be accomplished without much fatigue, even by a per- 
son unaccustomed to the exercise, and then the little sail, 
with a favoring wind, will send the canoe along at a fast 
rate, while the happy voyager leans back on his cushion 
and sees the varied panorama on shore pass him by. 

Joe, like "Barkis," was " willin'," so we planned a week's 
cruise. We decided to make a trip from Lake Huron to 
Lake Brie. Down the St. Clair river, which separates the 



OUTFIT. y 

United States from Canada, to the famous marshes or 
'^ Flats " at the mouth of the river, in Lake St. Clair; 
down one of the numerous channels through "the Flats,'' 
>to the Canada shore of the lake and around the shore to 
Detroit, near the entrance of the Detroit river, at the 
extreme foot of Lake St. Clair, and from thence southward 
to Lake Erie. The dotted lines upon the map indicate 
the route taken. We prepared ourselves with the follow- 
ing outfit, which is given for the benefit of any one con- 
templating such a cruise: 



Slippers (to wear in the canoe). 

Stout shoes. 

Two pair socks. 

Two pair pants (one pair on, of 

course). 
One heavy coat. 



CLOTHING. 

Two flannel undershirts. 
One blue overshirt. 
Two pair drawers. 
One rubber blanket. 
Two pair woolen blankets. 
One air pillow. 



We also took' an alcohol stove, compass, liquor (only to 
be used in emergency), twine and cord, sketching materials, 
opera glass, revolver, charts, etc., etc. 



PROVISIONS. 

Liebig's extract of beef. 
Pressed beef. 
Condensed milk. 
Coffee and sugar. 



Lemons. 
Canned soups. 
Sardines, salmon, etc., etc. 
Cooking utensils. 



I 



10 AN INQUISITIVE MAN. 

I devised a small tent to spread over the canoe at night, 
supported by the mast and boom and capable of being 
rolled into small compass. The whole outfit, including 
tent, weighing less than ninety pounds, was stowed away \ 
m handy packages in the water-tight compartments of the 
canoe. 

We took a steamer from Detroit to Lake Huron. Joe 
was so very solicitous about having his canoe placed near 
the gangway, that when on being accused of preparing to 
get rich by charging the passengers ten dollars a head for 
saving them in case anything happened to the steamboat, 
he only blushed and answered not a word. 

It was at 9 o'clock one beautiful morning that we 
launched our canoes, the " Halloo " and '' Z/lysses,^^ off the 
dock at Port Huron, amid a shower of comments from a 
large crowd which never failed us at every other place, 
civilized or otherwise, thereafter that we departed from. 

As we paddled out along the dock a thick-set man with 
a crooked nose followed and saluted me thus: 

"I say!" 

I knew he did, but I did not trouble myself to tell him 
so, and he continued: 

"Look-a-here! " 

But I wouldn't and he began to get mad. 




A RACE. 



A RACE WITH A HORSE. 13 

"Hello ! I s-a-a-a-y! " he yelled again. I knew he said 
it; he needn't have told me he said it; I could have heard 
him a mile, and I would have taken his word for it any 
way. There are people who get mad at you for minding 
your own business. 

" Look-a-here ! " my gentle friend continued, "you 
blank, smash, dashed, something or other! " and as he 
communed with himself after this truly enthusiastic man- 
ner, and finally commenced to paw around on the dock for 
something to throw, I threw up the little sail and with a 
favorable wind skimmed down the river aided by a current 
of six miles an hour, Joe following close behind. 

The breeze freshened and everything indicated that we 
would make the mouth of the river by night. We met 
numbers of vessels coming up the river, and the passengers 
on one large Lake Superior propeller crowded to the rail 
and railed at us as we shot past. At one point we ran in 
close to the bank of the river on the American side ; a man 
driving a horse and buggy came into view on the highway, 
which ran for quite a distance beside the shore. We 
challenged him; he whipped up his horse and we had a 
merry race for nearly a mile, when the road wound out of 
view. 

Marine City was reached at one o'clock, where we 



A NOBLE BED MAK 

dined. Here an old lady, with tears in her eyes, sought 
our acquaintance, and having learned of our proposed 
journey, requested that we keep a lookout for the body of 
her little grandson, supposed to have been drowned in the 
St. Clair river 

At three o'clock we made the head of Walpole Island, on 
the Dominion side, and landed to consult the charts, in 
order to decide our future course. We encountered an old 
Indian. He was seated alone on the shore, and responded 
to our salutations with a feeble grin and the faintest — very 
faintest — suspicion of a wink in the northeast corner of 
his left eye, 

Joe poised himself in front of the noble red man, and, in 
the language of Shakspeare, held forth to him thus: 

" Tell me, sweet Lord, what is't that takes from thee 
Thy stomach, pleasure, and thy golden sleep ? 
Why dost thou bend thine eyes upon the earth. 
And sit around like a Stougliton hottle 
Or an inanimate tobacco sign? 
Why hast thou lost the fresh bloom in thy cheeks. 
Hast thy girl gone back on thee, 
Or worse, dost thy mother-in-law visit thee. 
And raise cantankerous ruction 'round thy wigwam door? " 

This extraordinary burst of eloquence was rewarded 
with as many as ten grunts and a snort. The Indian 



LAKE 

HURON. 




MAP OF ROUTE FllOM LAKE HURON TO DETROIT. 



IN WHICH THE CANOEIST TURNS DOCTOR. 17 

could not speak English. He then left, and brought 
another Indian, who, I suppose, was noted for his English 
education. He informed us that the island was "Injun 
reserve," and that the old man was "boss," "Him chief.'' 
At this juncture several more Indians approached, and, 
after refusing their demand for " fire water," and treating 
them to tobacco, we hoisted sail for Algonac, a small 
village nearly opposite, in Michigan. We landed amid the 
piercing observations of a crowd of about one hundred 
spectators. After a vain attempt to get a deaf man to 
watch our canoes, we started to procure some provisions. 
Aside from looking like brigands, perhaps, Ave knew of no 
reason why our advent should create so profound a sensa- 
tion. 

I had omitted to get my liquor flask filled, so we went 
to the combined dry goods, grocery, crockery, drug and 
hardware store, also post office. 

I asked the young man for whisky. 

" Can't let you have it," said he. 

" Why ? " 

" You must have a physician's prescription," he replied. 

" Well, I can give you one," said I boldly. 

" Are you a doctor ?" 

*' I am! " and I here thought of G. W.'s little hatchet. 



18 



AN EMBAERASSIjSTG SITUATION. 



'* Here's a blank," producing one, ^'iill it out properly 
for what you want." 

I cogitated for a moment or two, and here is what I pro- 
duced: 






The young man gave a bewildered look at my sunburnt 
nose, and went to put it up. We went out to make other 
purchases, and on our return found the entire store occu- 
pied by a bevy of young ladies; the young man behind 
the counter, with a worried look on his classic features, 
was busy distributing the mail, and every blessed pair of 
eyes in every blessed one of those blessed heads was fixed 
upon us two bashful young men when we came in. We 
had to wait for the young man. Our situation was truly 
embarrassing. Had we been dressed in the usual attire of 
civilized travelers we would have been flattered, but to 




AN ALGONAC HORSE BLOCK. 



LOSS Op jL COMPANIOIT. 21 

be caught with red Turkish fezes on our heads, with bhie 
shirts and knee breeches on, and with long stockings, by a 
score or more of pretty girls, was too, too much. How 
they did stare at us. Joe hid one of his shins behind a 
rake handle, and I retreated to the friendly shelter of a 
sausage-stuff er. Finally the young man came up smiling, 
and said, so loudly that every one of the damsels heard 
him: 

"Oh! you have come for that whisky!" and handed us 
a big black bottle that would hold nearly a gallon. 

We fled from the store amid a chorus of laughter. Joe 
and I are going up there to assassinate that young man. 

When we reached our canoes we found a regular mass 
meeting assembled — the whole male population. Joe 
asked a slim man "if any one was sick in Algonac ? " The 
slim man said " Yes." Joe gave an agonized look upward, 
heaved a mighty sigh, and responded: "Then they are 
not all here." 

It was destined that I was to make the rest of the trip 
alone. Joe received here a message compelling him to 
return to Detroit that night by the steamer; so bidding him 
farewell I paddled around to the head of Eussel's Island, 
a small islet near Walpole, and selecting a smooth piece of 
grass, hauled the boat up, spread the little tent, looked 



22 An INDIAN RAID. 

after my kitchen, and before the sun sank had supper I 
cooked and eaten. I liad intended to camp on Walpole 
Island, but when we were having our inter view" with the 
Indians, Joe observed them making comments on the 
revolver, opera glasses, tackle, and other things in my 
canoe, and advised me not to encamp there. 

Very soon darkness came on and the moon rose. I 
entered the canoe under the little tent, lit the lantern and 
read awhile. Before retiring for the night I observed that 
the light inside made the tent very conspicuous. Dismis- 
sing the idea of Indian raids, I turned in and was soon 
asleep. About eleven o'clock I was awakened by the low 
murmur of voices and the chance striking of a paddle 
against the side of a " dug-out." Grasping my revolver, I 
sprang up and stepped out of the tent. The bright moon- 
light made visible, just entering a fringe of reeds lining the 
shore, a canoe propelled by two Indians, who, immediately 
on seeing me, turned and paddled for Walpole Island with 
many guttural exclamations. An unpleasant interruption, 
but I was tired, turned in again and was soon asleep. How- 
ever, I slept lightly, and at two o'clock another unwonted 
sound awakened me in an instant. I was on an uninhabited 
island alone. I might be robbed and murdered and no one 
would be the v/iser. These reflections flashed throuojh mv 



DISCOMFITUItE. 23 

mind as the sound of the paddle and the murmured voices 
coming nearer and nearer was again heard. I laid still 
until they ceased, awaiting developments. I cut a slit 
through the tent to see what was going on, to no purpose; 
but was startled into action by hearing a whisper. They 
had landed above me, out of sight. I gently unfastened 
the tent curtain, threw it open and peeped out. There 
were my friends on shore and coming toward me; but my 
action had arrested attention, and one of them said, in very 
good English: "John! that fellow sees us!" They 
straightway ran to their canoe, embarked hastily, and 
made the water eddy behind their paddle as they directed 
their course across the river. 

I came out of the tent, and I felt half tempted to empty 
my revolver after them, as I watched the marauders in the 
moonlight paddle across the channel, and disappear in the 
shadow of the island. 

It was cold and damp outside, and, going back to the 
canoe for warmth, before I realized it, was asleep, nor did I 
awake until the morning sun illuminated the tent. My 
scalp was on, my throat uncut, and nothing but the slit in 
the tent remained to show that the night's experience was 
not a dream. Throwing off the blankets, and sticking my 
nose out into the sunshine, I gazed on my little island 



24 

domain, and felt as independent as — well, as a modern ser- 
vant maid. 

Breakfast prepared and dispatched, and outfit stowed in 
the canoe, I paddled to the head of the little island and 
stopped to sketch an old wreck. While doing this a huge, 
long-legged bird alighted near at hand, cocked his head to 
one side, and struck an attitude in which grandeur was ele- 
gantly blended with studied ease. His attitude was so 
arrogant that it awakened hostility, and I fired the revolver 
at him, which did not seem to disturb his majestic con- 
templations in the least. Landing with the paddle, and 
on going toward him to see if he was stuifed, he "lit — 
out." 

The course planned for the day's cruise was through the 
" Chen el Ecarte," meaning clear water, an old French 
name. Anglicised by the sailors into the "Sni Carty Chan- 
nel." It circles around the head of Walpole Island and 
runs in a tortuous course through the marshes into Lake 
St. Clair, emptying into the lake near the entrance of 
MitchelFs Bay, on the Canada shore. 

As I paddled up the shore toward the point where the 
" Sni Carty " branches oflf from the main river, I saw a 
squaw ambling along with a pail in each hand. "Here's 
milk," quoth I. 



A squaw'lly time. 25 

I swung the canoe in and said in the most insinuating 
tones: 

" Good morning, ma'am! '' 

No answer; she kept right on. 

"Hello, I want some milk!" 

Not a sign of recognition. 

"Will you sell me some milk?" I persisted as the 
canoe kept along with her. 

She stopped suddenly and faced me, and set down the 
pails. She was attired in a Hudson Bay overcoat and an 
old pair of pantaloons. Oh, dear! how she did lecture me 
in Chippewa. I gathered from her gestures that she wanted 
to pull my hair. Things looked squaw'lly. The poor 
thing evidently thought I was criticising the fit of her 
ulster. I carefully put a couple of rods of clear, solid 
water between us. She was hostile, no doubt of it. I 
sadly left her, and she is talking there yet for all I know. 

There are enough Indians on Walpole Island to furnish 
material for warfare in a first-class blood-and-thunder dime 
novel. But the noble Lo on Walpole doesn't don war- 
paint and seek the scalp of the white man. He loafs 
around and smokes, while his squaw makes baskets to sell, 
and the lucre is used to procure "fire-water." It is seldom 
squandered for flour when there is no " tire-water " in the 



26 A FISH STOBY. 

house. These Indians are sufficiently numerous to make, if 
so disposed, trouble for the Canadian government; but 
they are used fairly, are peaceable, loyal, and reasonably 
industrious — for Indians. 

I paddled all the morning on the " Sni," along the lovely 
wooded banks of Walpole. As the day waned the " Ulys- 
ses " entered the marshes, through which the channel ran 
for many miles. It is uniform in width throughout, with 
water clear as crystal, and fully twenty feet in depth. 
The margin of the channel is monotonously lined with the 
tall serges which grow so luxuriantly. Only they who 
have been in those lonely channels can fully appreciate the 
square miles of wastes which fill the northern part of Lake 
St. Clair. My little canoe sat so low on the water that it 
was impossible to ^ee over the tall grasses that lined the 
way. There was nothing to contemplate but a desolate 
line of high weeds to the right and left, and the blue sky 
over head. 

The little canoe and its lonely occupant proceeded farther 
and farther into the marshes from civilization, and many an 
ineifectual attempt was made to find a place to land in 
order to prepare dinner. 

It was a splendid locality for fishing, and I put out a 
trolling line, fastening it to my arm. Three fine bass were 



A StTRPRIS^. 21 

soon landed. Suddenly, as I was moving on, a tremendous 
jerk made me think that I had caught on a log. Before I 
kad recovered from my astonishment it revealed itself a 
fish. In that lonely place that fish, or whale, or submarine 
monster, and I had a desperate fight. Two or three times 
it nearly capsized the canoe; the "Ulysses" was hauled 
from one side of the channel to the other with railroad 
speed, until my arms ached. At last another yank, and a 
lurch, that made my hair rise, the line hauled in light; 
the spoon hook was gone! I had lost him! I have wished 
ever since that some well developed steam yacht would 
seek that place, bait their anchor, and catch that fellow, 
they will know him; he has my spoon hook. 

The sun began to sink toward the west. The "Ulysses '* 
was pointed toward the center of the lake. I had not been 
able to get dinner, and received a severe cut in attempting 
to open a box of sardines with a pocket knife. Recollec- 
tions of stories of storms, accidents and perilous adven- 
tures in these marshes came up. After persistent paddling^ 
late in the afternoon voices were heard ahead around a 
turn in the channel. It was a welcome sound. Six sturdy 
fellows on a floating derrick, with a huge log half out of 
the water, indicating that they were clearing the channel, 
came into view. I came on them suddenly. " What is that 



28 LAKDEi>. 

smash, dashed thing a comin' ? " said the first one that 
saw me. As if pulled by the same string the six pair oi 
eyes and six mouths opened at me in wonder. Sending the 
canoe alongside in good style, in less than three minutes 
the contents of my flask had been divided and put where 
it would do the most good, and we were acquainted. 

They showed me a short cut through the marsh into 
Mitchell's Bay. A favoring breeze sprung up and by sun- 
down I had made the little French settlement on the shore 
of the Canadian Lake St. Clair, several miles away from 
the Chenel Ecarte, at the point indicated on the map, 
and snugly ensconced in the humble hostelry yclept the 
*' Hunters' Home," and was taking a gossipy smoke with 
" mine host." 




AN EARLY CANOE TRIP. 



CHAPTER 11. 

•• How easy 'tis when destiny proves kind, 
With full spread sails to run before the windl 
But those that 'gainst stiff gales laveering go 
Must be at once resolved and skilful too." 

—Dryden, 

A NIGHT AT HUN^TERS' HOME IN A STORM OUT IN THE LAKE 

AN EPISODE WITH A DOG SKIRTING THE SHORES 

OF LAKE ST. CLAIR. 

I engaged a Frenchman — a little, old, dried up man — on 
landing to help carry the canoe to the tavern. As we were 
about to pass his cabin on the road his wife sallied out, 
armed with a club — as Col. Sellers would say, a well devel- 
oped splinter of wood. She placed herself in the middle 
of the road and showed decided signs of war. The little 
man at the other end of the canoe trembled. Her club was 
long enough to defend the road, which had on either side a 
ditch of water. She was talking in the Canadian French 
patois with great vehemence, and at intervals would swing 
her bludgeon with awe-inspiring dexterity. 

When we approached to within a respectful distance she 
shouted in the dialect of the region, which tlie reader will 



4 

tul 



32 A FEMALE CLUB. 

remember has no literature: "Arrete done, gascon! Tu 
menes pas mon gars a I'auberge. Mon beau bijou tiens il 
se endra jamais au saloon!" 

An attempt at remonstrance met with rebuff. 

" Avance done, caribou! Passe le pichou! Sacre gi, 
me passeras pas avec ton canoe d'inde!" she yelled, putting 
the end of her club under my nose. All of which meant 
that an attempt to pass would be fatal unless her husband 
was left behind, as I ascertained afterwards. 

"Look here!" said I, "we wish to go up this road to the 
tavern; if you don't let us pass either one side or the other, 
by the American eagle, we must march right through you." 

Her only response was a whish of the club within an inch 
of my head. She followed up her charge by the war-cry. 
"Fou ton comp, sacrable creve faim de Boston! La fier 
crass-s-s-se!!" 

Making signs to my affrighted companion that we were 
to make a rush, at which he turned pale, but assented, and 
giving a war hoop, we started. But madame, with her ter- 
rible club flying, headed us off. We tried to pass to the 
right, and then made a rush to the left and nearly had my 
skull cracked for my pains. Finally, in desperation, I 
started for the ditch. At this conjuncture my fellow suf- 
ferer became demoralized, drop J his end of the canoe 



A SMALL BOY EXPLAINS. 33 

and fled. Staggering under the canoe, I went splashing 
into the ditch. As soon as the mud and water coukl be 
removed from my eyes I saw the virago chasing him down 
V the road at the rate of " around the world in eighty days." 
Crawling out from under the canoe a small boy explained 
matters: "Ze hole man get drunk when go to ze taavern, 
and ze old woman she won't let heem go." 

" Why didn't she say so ?" I growled. 

" Eh bien," said the boy, " She deed tell you fife, seex 
taimes!" 

From the onlookers, who had by this time collected, I 
took pains to enlist an unmarried man to help transport 
my canoe and traps to the tavern. 

The evening was mail night, the mail coming once a 
week to the little out-of-the-way place. Mine host was 
also the postmaster, and the combined general store, hotel 
and postoffice wa'o full of the neighboring population, for 
the most part hardy wood rfioppers and teamsters. In sub- 
dued tones and with sly and scrutinizing glances a good 
deal was said about the grande eiitrez of the canoeist into 
the place. The purport of their private conversation could 
not but be comprehended by the way they grinned; when 
one of them ca^.^^it my eye his face would suddenly drop 
like one caught laughing In prayer meeting by the parson. 



34 NOVEL MAIL DISTRIBUTION. 

Finally, mine host — a Yankee by the way — picked up a 
bundle of letters and commenced calling for the owners. 
He gratified himself so far as to read the postal cards, and 
favored the company with comments on the contents. This 
is the way he went on: " Ange Cromieaux, come here and 
get this letter from your girl." The blushing Ange took 
his letter amid the guffaws of the crowd. \ 

"Pierre Boissant! Ah, ha! old Pierre, one more from 
the same female." The crowd, regarding this as fine fun, 
roared. Pierre made an answer in patois that turned the 
laugh on the postmaster, who rejoined by advising him to * 
get his bald head frescoed before committing matrimony. \ 

"Alex Ledoux, brace up; bad news; your uncle's lost a 
cow." Another round of laughter. "Thomas Sangtien, 
your mother-in-law's coming." 

These sallies of the postmaster were received with good 
humor; often with not inappropriate answers in patois. 
Before getting to the end, he suddenly paused, poised his 
specs on the end of his nose, and gazed long and anxiously 
at a postal card. 

"Boys," said he, "poor Henri is dead. He died among 
strangers; here is his last writin', and he died in writin' it, 
as a stranger has added here. It's to his wife." " Now," 
he continued, taking off his specs and wiping them, " none 




PEN AND INK SKETCH OF MINE HOST. 



"stranger, shake!" 37 

of us are rich; it's a struggle to get enough to feed and 
clothe the little ones. Poor Henri was generous and helped 
when you were in need. There's a new widow in the little 
cabin over yonder and nine fatherless children. The guar- 
dian angel only know^'s what's to become of thera during 
the long winter a comin'." 

Here the postmaster drew the till out from under the 
counter and turned it bottom up. The coins within gave a 
muffled jingle. 

"Here's what I have taken in and it's for the widow. 
Who adds to it ?" 

Several of those present walked up and emptied their 
pockets, others made pledges. In turn, the stranger 
approached and added to the little pile, and the postmaster 
reached his hand over the counter and said: 

"Stranger, shake!" 

A noted authority on the subject has said: "Every true 
canoeist will sleep in his canoe." That had been the pro- 
gramme of the writer on starting. Finding upon trial that 
the shore could be approached, owing to shoals, only in 
one place, and that place unfit for a camp, for the first and 
last time during the cruise I slept in a bed, and it was a 
good one. I was awakened early in the morning by hear- 
ing three cheers. Looking out of the window a noble army 



38 



GEOLOGICAL CONJECTUBE. 



of geese were seen, confronted by the postmaster, wlio was 
holding in his hand a dish of feed. It reminded me for- 
cibly of a ward political meeting. 

It was a bright, sunny morning that I parted from my 
new-made friends. The breeze was fresh, though not 
favorable, and some sombre-looking clouds reared their 
heads in the west. The weather was a cause of anxiety, 
as the cruise, most of the day, would be outside a narrow 
line of marsh, about two miles from shore, known as Tic- 
Tac Point, which extended far into the lake and bended 
down like a hook along the eastern shore. 

It is safe to say, within a decade of centuries — and 
geologists rattle off these periods of time as an auction- 
eer does a five cent raise on a twenty cent towel — Lake St. 
Clair will be mostly solid land. A commencement is being 
made in the immense marshes at the mouth of the River 
St. Clair. The eastern shore of the lake is now one vast 
marsh. Ground must have been recovered in this way 
from the lake, and portions of the peninsulas of Michigan 
and Canada were once no doubt under water. Tic-Tac 
Point is a geological inroad upon the lake. A settler 
thereby informed me from a scow: " There isn't a da-cint 
place of solid land for a da-cint man to put his fut on." 



J 



CAUGHT IN A STORM. 39 

When answered "that if such was the case, I would not 
make a da-scent upon it," he looked tediously unhappy. 

Tic-Tac Point, obliging all crafts to keep well out to sea, 
will long be remembered. The ominous looking clouds in 
the west, observed on starting, came up and monopolized 
nearly the whole sky, and the opposing breeze freshened 
into a gale. The effect of it was apparent as soon as the 
" Ulysses " rounded the Point. Great waves lifted the 
canoe up in the air, rolled under it and buried themselves 
with an ominous swish among the drift-wood floating in 
the tall grasses of the marsh near by. It was necessary to 
paddle toward the open lake to keep out of the trough of 
the sea. After paddling vigorously for an hour the gale 
had freshened considerably, and the tops of the waves 
began to break off into " white caps." Crawling forward 
in the canoe on hands and knees, the rubber apron and 
rubber coat were secured from the forward storage com- 
partment, and buttoning the apron over the cockpit, the 
crew of the storm-tossed craft was soon in waterproof 
shape. Thanks to the sealed air chambers in either end of 
the canoe, the gallant little boat rode lightly on every 
wave. Occasionally a dash of water came over and rolled 
harmlessly off the apron and deck. Another hour of 



40 A VICIOUS DOG. 

tedious work with the paddle and such headway had been 
made as to be out of sight of land, or rather of the marshes. 

If paddling was discontinued one moment the canoe 
came about at once and sank into the trough. There was 
nothing to do but to stick to it. The compass showed the 
canoe headed straight to the center of the lake, and after a 
long and continuous pull at the paddle, which seemed a 
day, to my intense relief, the wind changed to the north- 
west. With some difficult work on my hands and knees, 
I succeeded in stepping the mast, hoisting the little sail, 
close reefed, and in a moment was booming along to the 
southeast. 

At two o'clock the *' Ulysses" had reached the lonely 
light-house among the marshes at the mouth of the River 
Thames. Ensconcing the canoe snugly behind a great log 
in a sheltered nook, I started for the light-keeper's house. 
As an Irishman once said, " the first person I met was a 
big dog," who showed a disposition to dine on me, so that 
it became necessary to un joint the paddle and carry half of 
it along to convince him that he musn't, but the dog came 
for me so vigorously that I was literally obliged to climb 
an upright timber supporting a range light, and it was 
accomplished with an agility that would have reflected 
credit on an organ-grinder's monkey. 




** The dearest spot on earth to me, 
Is home, sweet home. " 

—Old Sang, 



A TBAl^SACTION IN MILK. 43 

I would have soon slipped back into the teeth of the 
animal, if a little four-year old fellow had not come up and 
called him off. 

One disposed to moralize can easily see how truly great 
€very one is in his own sphere, no matter how humble it 
is. Here an infant subdues an animal that threatens a man. 
Fancy what work would Hon. Roscoe Conkling make at 
scissors grinding! How well would Benjamin F. Butler 
and Samuel J. Tilden satisfy a crowd of new^sboys and 
boot-blacks with a double-shuffle jig! Imagine Hon. David 
Davis as a tight rope walker, and, if you will, that good 
man. President Hayes, selling squirt guns in a public square, 
or Robert G. Ingersoll as a missionary to the heathen. 

The dog quieted, I approached the dwelling of the light 
keeper. A young girl answered my summons at its door, 
and informed me that her father was ill. Judging by the 
look of her face when she saw me, she was divided in the 
opinion as to whether the stranger before her was a minion 
of his Satanic Majesty, or an insurance agent in disguise. 
When I finished a quart pitcher of milk she kindly offered, 
and which she assured me could be spared, as they " always 
gave it to the pigs," she gazed at me with open eyes and 
naively remarked: "You must he fond of milk." 

After making, in addition, a hearty meal of coffee, cold 



44 AT A SETTLEMENT, 

meat and crackers at the canoe, when ready to embark 
again the wind had gone down. In another hour the 
" Ulysses " had ceased to skirt along marshes, and solid 
land appeared, the first encountered since leaving Walpole 
Island. Farewell to the marshes was bidden with pleasure. 
Late in the afternoon the point where the Great Western 
Railway first touches the shore of Lake St. Clair, which it 
runs along for miles was reached. As the trains passed and 
repassed, the passengers hurried to the windows to get a 
look at the *' Ulysses " and its occupant, which must have 
appeared a strange object to them. 

The storm being passed, the sun reappeared, and just 
as it sank down in the lake a little settlement came into 
view. Paddling on to a large tumble-down looking struc- 
ture with smoke pouring out of the chimney, near the 
shore, the canoe was beached, and I made the acquaintance 
of a couple of honest colored men. After preparing sup- 
per, I retired to the recesses of the comfortable little canoe, 
thoroughly wearied with the day's efforts, and, as Shaks- 
peare says: 

"Weariness 
Can snore upon the flint when restive sloth 
Finds the down pillow hard." 



CHAPTER III. 

— "Humble voyagers are we, 
O'er life's dim, unsounded sea. 
Seeking only some calm clime, 
Touch us gently, gentle time I'' 

— Barry Cornwall, 

A.T A SETTLEMENT — CURIOSITY — THE SUNDAY REST — A 
STORM ON THE LAKE — JOHNSOn's HYMN. 

It was on a Saturday night that the " Ulysses " and its 
solitary captain reached the little settlement on the shore 
of, and about half way down, Lake St. Clair. 

The settlement on the eastern shore has some importance 
as being the stopping place of transient trains on the Great 
Western Railway of Canada. The sudden advent of a 
queer looking stranger apparently from nowhere, unless 
from out of the lake, was a surprise to two colored men 
who lorded it over the beach as workmen, in an old tumble- 
down building used as a pearl ashery. The inhabitants in 
the vicinity made " salts " by boiling wood ashes into a 
powerful black lye which they sold to the ashery. A pro- 
cess of boiling and roasting converted the lye into beauti- 
ful white pearlash. It is then shipped to England and 



46 PEARLASH. 

returned to this country as saleratus, where it not only 
raises biscuit, but, according to dentists, raises the dickens 
with the teeth. An example of the strength of the pro- 
duct was made, as the colored man, who luxuriated under i] 
the cognomen of Johnson, the presiding genius of the 
place, was explaining the process. A couple of settlers, 
Frenchmen, drove up with a load Qf the "salts." It was 
contained in large wooden troughs. They had not com- 
pleted unloading when I was surprised to see both lift 
their hands in the air, utter wild yells and rush to the lake, 
where they plunged their arms in the water up to their 
elbows. They had accidently spilled " salts " on their 
hands. Mr. Johnson said unless speedily washed off, " de 
stuff would eat froo to de bone." 

The arrival of the " Ulysses " was soon talked about, 
and the people came to view it and be inquisitive. 

"What is it made of?" "What did it cost?" are the 
questions the canoeist must answer until he feels like hoist 
ing a placard at the bow containing, in big type, the 
desired information. 

The "Ulysses" was built of wood one-eighth of an inch 
thick, consisting of three pieces of thin veneer glued 
crosswise and afterwards pressed into boat shape. The 
veneer makes a combination very stiff and strong, and 




THE TWO ORPHANS. 

" Be you travelin* in that thing ? ' 



TWO ORPHANS. 49 

finished in the natural grain of the wood. It presents a 
beautiful appearance, and to the eye looks as if made o.f 
a single piece. This appearance causes the owner of this 
^ind of a canoe to do a world of explaining. 

The interlocutor looks at you as if he would have been 
a great deal happier if you had lied to him about the cost. 
I was so strongly convinced of this as to make up my 
mind to try the effect of a mild yarn on a stranger when a 
good chance offered. It came at the Pearlash settlement. 

The " Ulysses " was approached by " two orphans," ^. e. 
a tall, seedy looking man, and a lean, seedy looking dog. 
The man pointed his nose at the canoe and asked: 

" Be you a travelin' in that ?" 

"lam." 

"Been far?" 

"I have." .. ' " 

"Goin'farr* / 

" I am, sir." 

"What are you doin' it for?'* 

"Fun." 

"Wh^w-w-" said the man, who looked at me as if I 
was a choice specimen. " What did it cost? ' 

"Five hundred and eighty dollars." 

He puckered his mouth to the size of a safe key and 



50 A MAK OF j'iNTS. 

remarked: "It's expensive to be sure, but it's a good 
thing to have in the family, young man. You can use the 
blamed thing for a coffin some day." Another day at 
Detroit a delapidated looking youngster shouted from thev 
wharf : " Say, cap'n, wot did that 'ere boat cost? " His 
inquiry was answered. " Well," he replied "you ken just 
send me up a half a dozen." The cost is a question of 
moment, and more people are interested in it than he that 
pays it. 

After supper that night I walked half a mile from the 
shore, and went to the post-office and general store. As 
usual, it was full of settlers — on boxes^ on barrels, on the 
counter, and even on the stove. The stranger received the 
best chair, and was then and there sailed into, so to speak, 
and questioned until the tobacco smoke which obscured the 
room, seemed to twist every inmate into an interrogation 
point. I finally retreated in a blaze of glory, after having, 
shown them how a light hammock hat I wore could be takenf 
off, folded up, and put into a vest pocket. Passing out 
one of them was heard to remark: "That feller is all 
j'ints; he unj'ints his paddle, his mast and his boom, 
pockets his hat, unscrews his legs, and packs himself in 
that blasted canoe. He's built in sections, sure." 

That night camp was made in a rather lonely spot on 







SAY, CAP'N, WOT DID THAT 
ERE BOAT COST? 



A MIDNIGHT ALARM. 53 

the shore, near a piece of woods. About two o'clock a 
howl, as if from some beast truly infernal, started me out 
of a sound sleep. Peering over the edge of the canoe did 
not enable me to distinguish anything in the darkness. 
Finally, when the muffled tread in the sand paused beside 
my canoe and it stood fairly over me, I jumped up in 
affright and confronted a donkey. If my recollection 
serves, I adjured him in the noble language which Shake- 
speare puts in the mouth of the conscience stricken Mac- 
beth on seeing Banquo's ghost, and he kindly left. 

The next day, Sunday, the day of rest, dawned beauti- 
fully. After a bath in the lake an exploration of the 
country was in order. During the stroll a young girl was 
encountered carrying pails of milk. She had on an 
immense straw hat nearly as large as an umbrella. Taking 
out m.y note book and commencing to sketch her appear- 
ance as she approached, and the hat covering her eyes, 
she never discovered me until she had almost reached me. 
Her gaze was caught first by my fancy slippers, and wan- 
dered furtively up to the note book and pencil; then she 
gave a scared look into my face, taking in the red fez and 
exclaiming " Mon Dieu! " she fled. 

The big hat flopped up and down like a distressed bal- 



54 HEAD GEAR OF THE LADIES. 



loon, and the milk splashed out of the pails along the mud 
road, making a veritable " milky way." 

There was to be a picnic in the afternoon for the benefit 
of the church, including as attractions beer and dancing. 
I took note of the bonnets of the ladies, and also of their 
owners, from a point of vantage on the steps of the store, 
watching the vehicles drive past to the rendevouz. It was a 
happy crowd, and though there was a diversity in style of 
the headgear of the ladies — bless 'em — they were appar- 
ently as happy as if the great Worth, of Paris, had built 
the things, and charged them a hundred dollars or so 
apiece for the bits of filagree. 

Later in the afternoon a fine beam wind sprung up. The 
opportunity was not to be lost, as time was precious. So 
the canoe was launched, the sail was hoisted, and the 
" Ulysses " was shortly speeding away toward the Detroit 
River. At the end of an hour the wind shifted, and 
clouds began to pile up in the direction in which the canoe 
was headed. Passing a wood scow anchored off the shore, 
the skipper shouted: 

*' You'd better get on land with that pumpkin seed! " 

I began to think it good advice, and given none too soon. 
A few drops of rain pattered on the deck, and the wind 
freshened. The canoe was on the lee shore of the lake, and 



I 



IK PERIL. 57 

the long breakers began to roll in, making it hard work 
to- paddle, so deeming it hazardous to go on, I put 
about, only accomplishing it after much hard effort and no 
V little jDeril. While doing this the breakers began to roll in, 
larger and faster. I nervously watched their approach as 
I had the canoe partially turned, and was wallowing in the 
trough. The gallant little " Ulysses " shot up on every 
crest buoyant as a feather, and the breakers went roaring 
and tearing at the shore in the distance. Finally getting 
about, and giving the little sail, close-reefed, to the now 
favoring gale, the canoe bounded over the rollers towards 
my recent camping ground, which was soon reached, much 
to the relief of my honest colored friend, Johnson, of the 
ashery. *^ Chile, I knewed ye was bobbin' 'roun' out dar 
like an egg in a pail. I felt powerful anxious. When yo' 
get to yo' home, jes yo' stay thar. Keep away from de lee 
shoah, speshally ob dis yere lake. You're bound to get 
berry, berry damp some of dese days, shuah." 

I had hardly been ensconced in a snug corner of the ash- 
ery before a blazing log fire, when " the winds blew and the 
rain descended " most terrifically. 

My friend Johnson entertained me for a long time with 
original discourses upon moral and religious subjects. 

He finally became reflective, and fell to sermonizing. "A 



58 ESSAY ON MAN. 



I 



raan*s jes' like an ole wheel. Dar's de tire. Dat's his 
outah coverin'. Dar's de felloes. Dar's de spokes — de 
frame. Las'ly, dar's de hub. Dat's his h'art. What's a 
wheel good for wid a rotton hub un'm, eh ? or a man ? " I 
surrendered to Mr. Johnson. 

The afternoon darkened into night, and the wind blew 
furiously outside, tearing at the loose boards on the old 
building, while the breakers kept roaring on the beach- 
Johnson and his assistant were engaged in singing negro 
melodies. Sitting in front of the blazing logs, one of these 
hymns attracted notice as being particularly striking 
The following is a verse: 

*' Some day you'll be a knockin' at de gate; 

I'm agoin' to go f roo dar if I kin ; 
Ole Peter he will meet yo' an' tell your fate; 

I'm agoin' to go froo dar if I kin. 
When Gabrell comes an' blows de las' trump; 

I'm agoin' to go froo dar if I kin. 
If yo' want to get in you'll jes have to jum|); 

I'm agoin' to go froo dar if I kin. 




IN PERIU 



CHAPTER IV. 

But oars alone can ne'er prevail 

To reach the distant coast, 
The breath of heaven must swell the sail, 

Or all the toil is lost." 

—Cowper. 

PLEASURES OF CANOEING — ON A ROOK SINGULAR RIYERS 

A GHASTLY CARGO — THE DETROIT RIVER A HOR- 
RIBLE DISCOVERY. 

A cruising canoe will hold but one person, who must 
cruise alone or secure the company of a congenial friend. 
If anything will bring out the innate badness in human 
nature it is a journey in company. It is a rare friendship 
at best that will stand the test. Then there is a great 
deal of enjoyment to be had in a canoe alone. Many 
people have said to the writer: 

" Canoeing would be delightful, except for the journey- 
ing alone. 

That is a mistake. A canoeist is the most independent 
being imaginable, and as he carries with him his house, his 
bed and his board, the ordinary conditions of life do not 
circumscribe him, and he is purely and utterly free. This 



62 CRtriSING IN A GALE. 

isense of freedom is glorious. The grand panorama of 
nature that in infinite variety delights his eye; the incident 
of travel, to which adventure lends a spice, combine to 
make a canoeing experience so charming that it is sure to 
be repeated. 

A hard gale had prevailed all day, confining me to my 
camp. The next day found the gale still raging, but from 
a more favorable quarter for sailing. Time was precious 
and a start must be made. All the male population of the 
little settlement turned out to see the " Ulysses " and its 
captain depart. 

The lee shore of a shallow lake, with a gale sweeping its 
whole twenty miles of width, is not an attractive cruising 
ground for a boat only thirteen feet long and with only 
one eighth of an inch of wood between its crew and the 
bottom; but the capabilities of the little canoe were so 
well known that it was with no feeling of danger I 
embarked, in spite of the warning of friends on shore. 

The government charts showed dangerous shallows and 
boulders off Stony Point, and to avoid these it was neces- 
sary to make a detour in the open lake, and with sail up 
the "Ulysses" bounded lightly over the waves toward 
Detroit. The combined action of a quartering sea and a 
beam wind forced the canoe to the leeward. Drifting 
towards shore, unperceived by me, suddenly I was startled 







LADIES AND GENTLEMEN'S STYLES.— Po^e 6U, 



1. "Neat Straw." 2. " Latest Agony. " 3. "Heavy." 4. "Stylish." 

5. " Chic." 



ON A ROCK. 65 

by a violent shock. The canoe had run upon a submerged 
boulder. Then a roller lifted the canoe up in the air and 
receding let it come down with a thud, causing it to lieel 
over dangerously. Another heavy swell followed, and, 
before the sail could be lowered, three times the canoe rose 
upon the waves and came down with a heavy shock. It 
shivered like a leaf, and I expected momentarily to feel the 
water come curling up around me inside. Carefully bal- 
ancing and reaching under with the paddle when the next 
wave raised it, a vigorous shove sent the canoe into deep 
water. Luckily it had struck every time upon its solid 
oaken keel, and had sustained no injury. 

Three or four rivers are marked on the charts as empty- 
ing into the lake; but they do not empty, at least not after 
a protracted eastern gale. The sand from the lake bottom 
is thrown forward by the waves, making a dam across the 
mouths of these rivers, shutting them off entirely, and leav- 
ing them simply water courses from the lake extending in 
the form of rivers far back into the country. During the 
dry season the flow of water from the river is not sufficient 
to break through the bar of sand at the mouth. It is only 
in the gentle spring time, and after the fall rains, that they 
get up enough enthusiasm to flow. Perhaps it is not going 
too far to say they soon get discouraged. Hence they are 



66 Jl swear that was no swear. 

quiet streams — so quiet as to be at times quite stagnant. 
As Artemus Ward would say, near the close confines at 
the mouths of these so-called rivers is a beautiful country 
for one's wife's relations to live in. 

But withal, the vigorous descendants of the hardy French 
settlers that dwell in that section live there and thrive, 
enjoying life to the utmost. We associate malaria with 
such regions, and if there is anything of the kind bordering 
that portion of Lake St. Clair, the Frenchmen there take to 
fever and ague as naturally as a young lady to a new bon- 
netj and it doesn't seem to hurt them much either. Like 
the young lady and the bonnet, they miss it if they don't 
have it. 

At four in the afternoon I had reached to where Belle 
river should be, according to the chart. It was not there. 
Seeing some men digging on the shore, I asked: 

" Where is the mouth of Belle river ?" 

*^ Its dammed !" was the extraordinary reply. 

" No doubt, but where is it !" 

" Here.'^ 

" That's the shore.'' 

"Its dammed! I tell you," yelled the man. 

Not being able to imagine why the man should swear so 
singularly at a civil question, I went ashore. The man was 




MR. JOHNSON. 
**A man 's jes' like au ole wheel." — Page 68, 



A GHASTLY CARGO. 69 

right— the last gale had sent a drift of sand clear across 
the mouth of the river and surely enough it was dammed^ 
and they were digging the sand away to release a couple 
of scows. 

Making a hasty meal here, the head of the " Ulysses " 
was again pointed along the shore. The wind by this time 
had completely died away. Seeing a low, black hulled 
sail-boat in the distance, lying becalmed, with huge patched 
sail hanging listlessly, the canoe was directed toward it. 
On coming near enough it was seen to have a ghastly cargo. 
Skulls grinned from the deck, and bones protruded in every 
direction from the gaping mouths of bags, with which the 
vessel was laden. In the stern sat a red-haired man, 
smoking. He had picked these bones up along the shore 
and was taking them to the city to sell. 

" When do you expect to reach Detroit ? " I asked. 

"Bedad, sor! I'm a thinkin' loike it will be the next Cin- 
tinnial at the prisint rate of goin'." He was not French! 

The Canada shores of Lake St. Clair are strewn with 
millions of feet of logs, planks and timbers, also with trees, 
stumps, and here and there the melancholy remains of a 
vessel. This accumulation of drift is a surprising sight. 
In the shallows along the shore are many submerged trees 



70 A STARTLING ENCOUNTER. 

and stumps, and it required constant care to prevent impal- 
ing the canoe on a snag. 

The glorious afternoon mellowed into sunset. The sun 
went down in roseate splendor, the moon came up and the 
"Ulysses" was yet far from the Detroit River. Vigorous 
work at the paddle brought the light on Windmill Point 
into view, and in an hour the shores of " Isle de la Peche," 
in the entrance of the river, came into sight. 

Passing a scow becalmed, the canoe was directed along- 
side. I was almost overcome with horror on beholding a 
human head was hanging over the rail. It was the head 
of a man; his eyes were closed and the moon shone full 
in his face. 

"Hello!" I shouted. 

No answer! 

Was he dead ? 

Reaching up with the paddle T touched the livid face, 
and was greatly relieved to find it was only the death of 
drunkenness. Spenser's words might be applied: 

*'The messenger approaching him spake, 
But his waste words returned to him in vain 
So sound he slept that naught might him wake.** 

After sawing the blade of the paddle once or twice up 
and down under his nose, which only evoked a prolonged 
snore, I left him to his sweet repose. 



I 



A DEAD BODY. 71 

It was nine o'clock when the "Ulysses" shot from the 
Canada channel behind "Isle de la Pcche" into the quiet 
bosom of the Detroit River. The canoe was directed 
towards the head of Belle Isle. Beyond could be seen the 
lights of the city. A large Lake Superior propeller loomed 
up in the distance, her red and green lights visible, and 
indicating that I was directly in her course. 

An overpowering odor saluting my nostrils and perceiv- 
ing a black object ahead, I approached. The sight the 
moonlight revealed to me that night made an impression 
on me that lived in my memory for many a day. It was a 
dead and floating human body. The eyes were fixed, star- 
ing open, and the hair was tossed and matted on the 
bloated face. 

Acting on the impulse, I seized the paddle and was about 
to leave the vicinity, but reflecting that it was my duty to 
secure the body and bring it to the city, I set about prepar- 
ing a rope. Before this could be done, however, I had to 
paddle vigorously to get out of the way of the propeller, 
which had approached unperceived. As it was, I narrowly 
escaped being run down. The little canoe danced on the 
heavy swells, and after the propeller passed I found the body 
had disappeared. The swell of the steamer had sunk it. As 



72 LANDED. 

I paddled away I looked around, as did the "Ancient 
Mariner " of Coleridge. I 

"Like one that on a lonesome road, 

Doth walk in fear and dread; 
And, having ©nee turn'd round, walks on, 

And turns no more his head 
Because he knows a frightful fiend 

Doth close behind him tread.'* 

The canoe was soon in the shadows at the head of Belle 
Isle and proceeded down the American channel into the 
region of wharves and shipping; as the great bell in the 
City Hall was striking eleven, the *'' Ulysses" had been 
safely housed and its captain trod once more the streets of 
the city, said by ti^avelers to be the loveliest in the land. 



CHAPTER V. 

•* Thus with imagined wings our swift scene flies 
In motion with no less celerity 
Than that of thought." 

—Shakspeare, 

EN ROUTE TO LAKE BRIE — SCEN^ES ALONG THE DOCKS— A 
DOSE OF NITRO-GLYCERINE. 

Detroit River, from Lake St. Clair to Lake Erie, was the 
concluding part of the cruise laid out for the "Ulysses." 
That would complete the journey from Lake Huron to 
Lake Erie. After a stay of several days in Detroit, where I 
was again joined by Joe, one sunshiny October afternoon 
found us on the beautiful Detroit River in the " Halloo " 
and "Ulysses," headed southwards, towards Lake Erie. 
The usual crowd of idlers and small boys witnessed our 
departure, and bombarded us with questions. 

As we left, a couple of newsboys were holding a " canoe 
congress " on the dock. Before we were out of sight we 
could see that from logical reasoning they had descended 
to personal argument and were pummelling each other in a 
truly emphatic way. 

We paddled down stream past the docks, the shipping. 



74 A LECTURE BY JOB. 

among the smoking tugs, carefully avoiding the ferries! 
crossing to Canada. The swells of the huge steamer Great] 
Western made our little craft bob about like corks. 

Just below the elevator we were joined by a man in a ' 
row-boat: 

" What are them consarned things ? " said he. 

" Fellow-pilgrim o'er the watery waste," replied Joe, " I 
will tell thee. Archaeological research develops indubitably 
the fact that the aboriginal species of the genus homo were 
not only deplorably deficient in information regarding the 
use of calorics in the preparation of substance with which 
to replete the alimentary function " 

*^I don't tumble," interrupted the man. 

"Please don't," said Joe; "you'll get wet. As I was 
saying, as indicated, ethnologically, by the conformation 
of the occiput frontalis^ this species exhibit in all depart- 
ments of their domestic and physical economy equally 
denuded understanding, especially so in the modus operandi 
of conveyance along aqueous surroundings. See ? " 

"Oh, y-y-yes, I see," hesitatingly answered the man, 
with a dazed look. 

" I knew you would," continued Joe, "how adjacent this 
period of existence was to the post-tertiary, anthropologists 
are unable to efficiently determine; probably the ethnic 




A CANOE CONGRESS. 



"That ere boat 's made of wood!" 
*'T'aint nutherl" 



n 



SALUTATlO:NrS FROM THE DOCKS. 77 

epoch marked by the brachycephalic crania " The man 

began to move off. 

" Where are you going ? " asked Joe. 

" To get out of here," said the man. 

" Aren't you a gentleman of culture ? " inquired Joe, 

" No, by thunder! " yelled the man, " I belong in Wind- 
sor; I never was in that place, and I don't want to be;" 
and he made the water foam behind his oars as he rowed 
away. 

Paddling along the crowded docks of a large city is 
quite different from cruising in a wilderness. Every man 
at work on vessels or on the wharf that observed us, felt 
impelled to stop work and yell at the canoeists. 

They told us to part our hair in the middle. We were 
invited to give information as to our canoes, and one 
wanted to engage a cabin passage. In short, we could 
have started a semi-naval land engagement several times, 
had we been so disposed. Away down the river, snugly 
ensconced behind a lumber pile on the dock, we came upon 
a man taking an astronomical observation. He had a long 
black bottle elevated toward the sky at an angle of forty- 
five degrees. His lips imbibed the orifice, and we could 
see 

" The swallows homeward fly." 



78 COUGH MEDICIKE. 



4 



We approached him without his hearing us, 

"Hello!" we yelled. 

" Hello yourself! " said the man, taking down the bottle. 
" I'd just like to know if a man can't come here to take a 
little medicine for his cough without being shouted at that 
way?" 

We begged his pardon, and paddled away. He yelled 
after us: "I'd offer you some, boys, but there's no direc- 
tions on the label about the dose for ^ infants.' " 

We proceeded down the river leisurely, past vessels, 
lumber piles, manufactories, and, finally, Fort Wayne, 
where the guns of Uncle Samuel frown across the river 
upon devoted Canada, and where the recreative soldiers 
fish off the dock; past the officers' quarters among the 
trees on the high bank, and at last were fairly below the 
city and its surroundings. 

Great flocks of ducks flew over head, and we could 
occasionally hear the bang of the sportsman's gun in the 
marshes lining the shore below the River Rouge. 

Twice we had a shot with a revolver at a flock resting on 
the water, once dropping a bullet in among them. It was 
twilight before the canoes skirted the low shores of Fight- 
ing Island, which is occupied by fishermen, whose shanties 
are built along the river, and which owes its name to the 




AN ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATION. 



A DANGEROUS MAN^. 81 

fact that it has been the scene of many professional pugilis- 
tic encounters. 

The twilight had deepened when we reached Grassy- 
Island, which being nothing but a shoal with rushes, we 
paddled right through it. A boy rowed out to us from the 
light-house near by, and began to ask the usual questions. 
Joe called him confidentially up to his canoe, and told the 
youth something that made him stare at me in a frightened 
manner. He said I had accidently swallowed a pint of 
nitro-glycerine, and that he was a committee of one 
appointed to escort me out of town, as it was feared I 
would explode; for that reason I was not allowed to ride 
on the cars and must travel by water. Joe solemnly 
cautioned the boy not to say anything to make me laugh, 
as I would "burst — sure." The boy didn't. 

Soon after we arrived at Wyandotte, and paddling under 
the cloud of smoke from the iron works that hung over the 
river, soon reached the head of Grosse Isle. The surface 
of the water was like a mirror, and the stars, reflected from 
the sky above, twinkled around us in the water like dots 
of fire. It was after seven o'clock when our canoes were 
hauled into the boat house at the summer residence of a 
friend on the island, a prince among good fellows. 

The next morning early we were again on the river, and 



82 A COLLISION. 

in a driving rain paddled down the romantic wooded shores 
of the island. 

By ten o'clock we had reached the Lime-Kiln Crossing^ 
A thick mist had now settled about us; the rain came 
down harder and drove in our faces; we were keeping 
close together; suddenly our canoes brought up with a 
terrific bump against some floating object, and a man came 
out upon it, yelling madly at us, " There's nitro-glycerine 
on this float; get away from here, quick! You'll be 
bio wed up! " 

Joe responded: " I'm a married man and I'm used to it," 
but paddled away for dear life. We had run into the 
government drilling scow engaged in blasting the rocks on 
the reef. 

A few moments later we were cruising along the shores 
of Sugar Island, in the mouth of the river, and at the end 
of half an hour our canoes were dancing on the broad 
bosom of Lake Erie. Hailing a passing tug, bound up, we 
were taken aboard, with our canoes, and were soon pro- 
ceeding up the river. 




FACES FROM THE DOCKS. 



CHAPTER VI. 

"J*ve watched and travelled hard; 
Sometime I shall sleep out; the rest I'll whistle." 

—Shdkspeare. 

A JOLLY TUG CAP'n A SPEECH FROM JOE — A LOST COW — 

ROMEO AND JULIET — HOME — DELIGHTS AND RE- 
VERSES OF CANOEING. 

The hale, hearty old captain of the tug on which we had 
embarked with our canoes, with a contempt for small craft 
that always lingers in the bosom of men of his class, 
dubbed our boats "Lunatic Asylums." "To be sure," he 
added, "they won't hold but one; but there's room for a 
plaguey big one." 

Joe told him that we were agents "employed to dis- 
tribute tracts on swearing to tug captains." 

The old man, laughing, replied: "Well, now! you ca7i 
tell, for sure, the difference between a tug cap'n and a par- 
son by jest a hearin 'em talk a leetle, especially if the tug 
cap'n's riled. That reminds me of old cap'n Bob Stivers. 
Now, that man couldn't no more help swearing than a 
pirate; why, one time he let his vessel go on the rocks — 



86 A TERRIBLE TIME. 

took SO much time to swear he didn't give his orders m 
quick enough. One time his wife's sister, a conscientious sort 
of a critter, started home from the theater with him — told 
him she wouldn't go a step with him if he swore. Bob 
held out first-rate until they got part way home, and then 
let out an old double-decker. She stopped. He had jest 
pursuaded her to start when he did it agin. Got her 
started agin, and swore some more, and so on over and over. 
Will you believe me, it took that poor man until two 
o'clock in the morning to go half a mile with her — fact!" 

A short ride with this jolly mariner brought us to 
Amherstburg, a small town on the Canada side, near the 
mouth of the river — the first port after leaving the lake. 
We could have proceeded to Detroit on the tug, but had 
made the resolution to make the round trip in our canoes; 
so we unloaded them on the dock amid a miscellaneous 
crowd of onlookers, collected in spite of the pouring rain. 

Joe muttered to me: " Now's a chance; see how long 
they will stay, and not a soul has an umbrella." Mounting 
a pile of lumber, with the rain dripping from his rubber 
coat, he commenced: 

" Fellow citizens : I am proud to appear here before you 
on this auspicious occasion; and I may add that I am 
proud to have this glorious opportunity to raise my voice 



AN ADDRESS 87 

in a place which, I am credibly informed, is the center of 
culture, civilization and philosophic thought for this adja- 
cent vicinity, if not more so; and as I stand here and a 
realization of the grandeur of my paramount mission 
reminds me of duty it repels burning words which crowd 
upon my lips for utterance — 

Here a small boy in the crowd yelled to a distant small 
boy— 

"Johnny," come here and hear the preachin'," and a big 
man swore, shook the rain off his hat and ran for shelter. 

" I am here on a most important errand, and what is that 
errand ?" continued Joe. " Will you stand here 

** Dumb as statues, 
Or unbreathing stones," 

and not aid me ? Will this enlightened community be 
aware, and not assist ? Will you — 

" What's the errand ?" shouted an impatient squint-eyed 
man, with a drop of rain trickling down his nose. 

"Brother Jones," said Joe, turning to me, " will you pre- 
pare to take up a collection ?" 

Here the squint-eyed man and two-thirds of the crowd 
incontinently left. 



88 FIGHT WITH THE CURRENT. 



4 

" On the gulf of Leaotong, China, "-resumed Joe, "lies the 
town of Neuchwang, and — 

Here I made a motion as if to pass the hat, and all the 
rest hastily left, except a small boy, who said to Joe, as he 
got down off the lumber — 

"Look a here, parson, you've struck the wrong crowd 
for collections." 

We made our way to the hotel and waited for fair 
weather, which did not come until the next morning, then 
with a good up river breeze. We launched our canoes off 
the dock, and shortly were having a grand fight with the 
heavy current prevailing at the railroad ferry crossing of 
the Canada Southern Railway. It was a question for a time 
which conquered — wind or water — and, as is often the case 
in affairs on this mundane sphere, wind prevailed, and our 
little craft, under the influence of the fresh breeze, were 
soon skirting along the high banks of Grosse He crowned 
with summer residences. 

Just below where the ruins of a fire-stricken hotel are" 
marked by a desolate black spot in a green sward and a 
lonely pier extending into the river, we were hailed by a 
man from the shore* 

" Have you seen a cow ?" he asked. 

"Have you lost one ?" responded Joe. 




UAKE ERIE 



MAP OF DETROIT RIVER. 



AN AMPHIBIOUS COW* 91 

*' Is she of the genus amphibii P^ 

"I dunno," replied the man, puzzled. 

" Was she web footed ?" asked Joe. 

« Pshaw, no!" 

" We haven't seen your cow then," answered Joe, sadly. 
" My friend you do not know that you awakened a wild 
longing hope in my breast only to dash it to atoms. 1 am 
sorry we haven't seen your cow. Now if we had sailed up 
on the shore we might have met a land cow; but I fondly, 
wildly hoped when you first spoke, there might be an aqua- 
tic cow; that I could give the fact to the world and go 
down to my grave honored as the man who had solved the 
problem of ages as to how so much water gets into board- 
ing house milk." 

The man gave Joe an appealing look, and with all hk 
might scrambled up the bank without looking back. 

An hour later we were snugly ensconced in the dining 
room of the summer home of our friend of the voyage 
down, and after a hearty dinner were once more en route 
for Detroit, sailing up the Canada side of the river. 

Off the Sulphur Springs, below Sandwich, Canada, the 
"Ulysses" narrowly escaped being wrecked; the sail par- 
tially hid the course of the canoe ahead, and as it was dash- 



92 ROMEO AND JULlE:!. 

ing along under the influence of a puff of wind, there sud- 
denly loomed into view a clump of huge spiles only five 
feet away. The canoe was headed directly for them and 
it seemed almost an impossibility to avoid a collision. The 
rudder was veered to the port side with an energy born of 
despair, and I held my breath as the end of the boom just 
grazed them. 

An hour later we had entered the region of tugs, ferries 
and shipping. We maintained our cruise along the docks 
on the Canadian shore, at one place nearly being deluged 
by a bucket of slops thrown over the side of a vessel. Joe 
being nearest the point of danger gave vent to his feelings 
by giving a blood curdling yell, the immediate effect of 
which was to bring into sight over the rail of the vessel, 
two piggy eyes, a red nose and a wide mouth, the property 
of the female cook. 

"Oh, Juliet!" exclaimed Joe, bringing his canoe into the 
wind and standing up he apostrophized her: 

"Oh! speak again, bright angel! for thou art 
As glorious to this night, being o'er my head, 
As a winged messenger of heaven 
Unto the white upturned wondering eyes 
Of mortals that fall back to gaze on him, 
When he bestrides the lazy pacing clouds, 
And sails upon the bosom of the air." 




o 
o 



525 

< 



EXD OF CRUISE. 95 

The owner of the eyes, the nose and the mouth disap- 
peared a moment and reappeared with a stick of wood ele- 
vated to throw. 

" Move on, sonny," she said, and Joe moved. 

In a little while our canoes were dodging among the 
ferries and the tugs at Detroit, and at the end of another 
half hour the "Halloo " and "Ulysses " were safely housed. 
The voyage was over. The cruise was finished. 

This ended the cruise of the "Ulysses," from Lake 
Huron, around the shore of Lake St. Clair, and through 
the Detroit to Lake Erie, and surveying the incidents and 
adventures of the cruise now, the writer cannot but con- 
clude that canoeing is a rare combination of pleasure and 
incident. 

The varied beauties of nature that are unfolded before 
the gaze of the voyageur; the sensation of being soaked 
through by an untimely rain; the impressiveness of forests 
musical with the twitterings of birds and made brilliant by 
patches of golden sunshine; the doubtful happiness of get- 
ting stuck in the mud; the pleasure of lying face-upward 
at night in the canoe — home by water and land — when the 
wanderer sees the starry host of heaven 

** Rising 
Through the mellow shade, 
Glitter like a swarm of fire-flies tanjorled in a silver band*" 



96 ADVICE. 

the gyrations of the festive mosquito around a sleepless 
nose; the unmoved water reflecting the landscape and 
delighting the eye to the fullest; the anguish connected 
with a melted coffee pot; the glorious exercise in open air, 
and ravenous appetites; the terpsichorean efforts resulting 
from burned fingers at the camp fire; the excitement of 
adventure and the sad, terrible, lost feeling, that wrings 
the very soul of the canoeist, when he discovers he has 
sweetened his coffee with the salt. 

All these things exist in the category of a canoe cruise, 
but the trials make the manly canoeist more manly, and the 
pleasures indescribably recreate him. 

And to such as have not experienced them, the advice, at 
least, of one enthusiast, is, buy a canoe and try it, even if 
at the risk of being called a lunatic by your relations. 



CONCLUSION. 



SPEED OF A CANOE UNDER PADDLE AND SAIL. 

Canoeing has developed into many queer phases in the 
United States. Some are disposed to regard canoes in the 
light of exclusively sailing craft, and to that end model 
and provide them with center boards and other yacht-like 
paraphernalia. Others are inclined to discard the sail 
altogether, and navigate entirely by paddling. Still others 
speak loudly for the oar in cruising. Opinions depend 
largely, of course, upon the use the owner desires to put his 
canoe : whether he is to use it for short pleasure cruising 
on a lake or bay near home, or in an extended tour on 
unknown waters. In any event, the experience of promi- 
nent canoeists is well worth knowing. 

Mr. ]Sr. H. Bishop, in his excellent works, speaks of the 
use of the oar as almost a necessity. The famous Mac- 
gregor, of "Rob Roy" fame, states that a cruising canoe 



100 FAST TIME. \ 

can be paddled to average nearly four miles an hour, or 
about forty miles per day of ten hours, exclusive of aid 
from sail or current ; and that " no man with a row boat 
could keep up with a canoe on strange rivers for a week." 
We have it on his authority, also, that the "last' 
twelve-mile race of his canoe club was won, with the tide, 
in " eighty-five minutes." * 

11. 

r SAFETY OF CANOES. 

The word "canoe," according to Webster, is derived 
from " canaoa,^^ in the language of the Carribees, It is 
commonly associated with the word and fact, " capsize." 
But the modern " cruising canoe " is very unlike its ancient 
progenitor, the log, bark or hide canoe, in this respect. 
The craft of to-day bearing the name have been improved 
in model so as to even bear sail in stormy weather; will 
withstand the heaviest sea, and there seems no limit to 
their endurance in this respect. 

A member of an English canoe club has traversed the 
sea between Scotland and Ireland ; the channel between 
England and France has been crossed two or three times in 

f *'RobRoy*Vonthe Jordan, note, p. 26. 




LAKE SUPERIOR PROPELLER. 



A VENTURESOME AMERICAN. 103 

these tiny craft. A brave American canoeist has made a 
trip from the north along the Atlantic coast to Florida, 
and it would require a volume to record the exploits of 
Macgregor and others, on rivers, in rapids and on sea. Of 
the two hundred members of the English club, in cruises 
over Europe, Asia, Africa, America and Australia, not one 
has been drowned. 

III. 

LONELINESS. 

A well known writer says of cruising alone: "You do 
not mar your plans by feeble comparisons; you see, hear 
and think a great deal more than if a ' pleasant companion ^ 
is beside you all day, whose small talk (and your own) must 
be run dry in a month, and neither of you is free. In these 
solitary expeditions I have never a sensation of loneliness. 
Hard work, healthy exercise, plain food and plenty of it, 
early hours, reading at night, and working, moving, noting, 
drawing, observing and considering all day, one's plans are 
quietly perfected, and there is no more tedium or solitary 
dullness than when you read or fish alone, or paint or write 
in a town — the place one can feel the most lonely in after 
all." * 

♦Macgregor. 



104 ECONOMY. 



IV. 



COST OF OUTFIT AND CRUIglNa 

A canoe cruise is a most economical as well as a health- 
ful manner of spending a vacation. A canoe can be pro- 
cured at an expense of from thirty to one hundred dollars, 
according to completeness, finish, etc. One costing fifty 
dollars combines all that may be reasonably required for 
comfort and convenience. A stock of provisions sufiicient 
for two weeks or more can be obtained for fifteen dollars, 
and providing the voyager sleeps in his canoe and prepares 
his own food, shunning houses and settlements, as experi- 
enced canoeists invariably do, his expenses, making allow- 
ance for many luxuries, will average fifty cents per day, or 
even less. If he cruises in places where food is obtainable 
at houses and settlements, his expenses need not average 
more than one dollar per day. It is decidedly cheaper than 
remaining at home. 





CITY HALL, DETROIT. 



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